Cuba is waiting for 160 thousand Russian tourists in 2019

Cuba is expecting another record from Russia: according to the representative office of the Ministry of Tourism of Cuba in Russia, for 9 months of 2019, the Russian tourist flow has increased by 14% there. The sales in the organized market show even greater growth. In January-September, more than 105 thousand Russians have already visited the country. 
As Juan Carlos Escalona, the director of the representative office, notes, the Russian Federation shows the highest growth among the main source markets. According to the Cuban side, Russia occupies the 8-th position among all markets and the 5-th among European countries in terms of inbound flow to Cuba. Thanks to the activity of Russian tour operators, the share of arrivals of the Russians increased in the overall entry structure from 2,6% in 2018 to 3,15% in 2019. 
According to Mr. Escalona, taken into account the expansion of the flight programs of the tour operators Pegas Touristik and Anex Tour and in connection with the launch of own charter chains of such major players as Coral Travel and Tui Russia, the Russian tourist flow to Cuba in 2019 will set another record and exceed the level of 160 thousand tourists. In 2018, 137 thousand of Russian tourists visited this Caribbean country. 
This winter season tour operators record a larger increase in the volume of booking tours to Cuba than the official statistics of the Cuban side reported. So, Anex Tour notes the growth in demand for the destination by 30% compared to the same period last year. 
“The seats of the air boards for November are almost all sold, which is connects with the beginning of the high season. The loading of the flights for the New Year’s period already exceeds 60%,” the press service of the tour operator reported.